pretty knits and cards from SLC

The Queue vs The Knitting Broomstick

Well friends, my knitting queue has been officially hijacked. Not only have I discovered sock knitting… I’ve discovered the wonderful world of knit alongs (aka. KALs) and podcasts. Once I decided to participate in The Knitting Broomstick’sCoffee with C.C. KAL, my summer making plans took a sharp detour! So, yeah, in the battle of The Queue vs The Knitting Broomstick? TKB for the KO!

Backing up here…. The Knitting Broomstick is an awesome YouTube video podcast hosted by Jilly (@veganjilly on Instagram and Ravelry). She has a love of all thing literary and geeky—basically, she’s a girl like me! I love her friendly, enthusiastic way of presenting her WIPs and FOs (not to mention new acquisitions!). But the best thing about her podcast is the way she actively works to build the community and engage her viewers with giveaways, themed KALs, and lively discussions.

One of the KALs she’s hosting at the moment is a year-long KAL to knit the entirety of Coffee with C.C. by C.C. Almon.The book contains six sock patterns and one shawl. Doable by year’s end! And these socks are amazing! I really do want every single one of them on my feet this fall. I have the first pair finished as of last night.

Coffee with c.c. 1: I love you more than pumpkin spice

Finished Object Pumpkin Spice Latte Socks

These are my “Mary’s Pumpkin Spice Latte” socks. The yarn is from Sweet Sparrow Yarns in the Magpie base in the Mary colorway. Cute Julie (@julierosesews) themes all of her yarn after books! Mary comes to us from The Secret Garden in an array of golds, browns, greens, burgundy and pink. Like a garden coming to life. The Magpie base is 75 Superwash Merino, 20 Nylon, and 5 Gold Stellina. Oh yes… that means this yarn sparkles like crazy! It’s warm and golden like a September afternoon. This yarn was magical to work with; I kept going just to see what the next color was going to be and how it would work into the sock.

The pattern itself kept things interesting with its crazy cable up the front and twists on either side. That cable was a doozy… I messed it up multiple times. Luckily, you can’t really tell. I also screwed up the bind-off on the first sock, but it still fits up over my heel, so it’s all okay!

Modifications? I dropped down to size 1 needles, knitting 72 stitches. My magic vanilla sock strategy is size 0 needles with 72 stitches. So, I kept the stitch count, but couldn’t get the cast-on just right on size 0 needles. On my next pattern in the book, I’m keeping the size 1 needles, but dropping to 64 stitches to get a slightly slimmer fit. They don’t feel like they’re going to fall down or anything… they could just be a little snugger.

Lessons learned from this: do not start a new technique, whether it’s a new cable, a new cast-on, or a new bind off, until you’re sure you know what the outcome is supposed to look like. I had to watch three different videos on the Judy’s Magic Cast-on technique before I understood fully what was going on. But now that I get it, I’m converted to toe-up socks for life! I just need to practice on those size 0s.

Half Object Pumpkin Spice Latte Socks

And now of for the double-dipping…. Another podcast I adore is A Homespun House with the amazing Molly, who is hosting a KAL for knitting with Stellina. One pair of socks. Two knit alongs. Done and done!

Next up…. I’m hoping to do the Espresso Macchiato socks on Sweet Sparrow Yarns’ Miss Honey (Matilda!) colorway in the Nuthatch base. The yarn does stripe, but probably not as pronounced as I’ll need for this particular pattern. I’ve cast on the toe and I’ll know by the time I reach the full 64 stitches whether or not I can Macchiato with this yarn. (BTW… Macchiato is totally a verb.)

I still plan to get Jordan’s Bitty Breeze cardigan finished by autumn; but any additional knit shirts or cardigans I’d planned for me this summer have been de-queued in favor of SOCKS! (Notice I said knit there… I’m still sewing.) I’m also planning to do a lace shawl from the first issue of Making. More queue-jacking there! Perhaps that will be my Ravellenic Games entry this year. Mmmmm.